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The Apostle follows this gift with that of prophecy, and it is important to remember
that a Bible prophet was a forth-teller as well as being a foreteller. Prophets in the N.T.
were linked with apostles as a foundation ministry by the risen Christ (Eph. 4: 11), and
this was essential for the delivery of truth to God's people until the great foundation of
inspired Scripture was complete, through which God could speak to men and meet every
need by the Holy Spirit's enlightenment. No further additions to God's complete Word
are necessary or can be allowed. Our task is the proclamation of this completed
revelation, and we no longer need the ministry either of the apostle or prophet, the sure
foundation now being the Word of God and the Christ of the Word.
The ministry of the prophet during the Acts ranked high in the Apostle Paul's
estimation (I Cor. 14: 3-5) in importance above the gift of tongues.
In view of the satanic spirit of deception concerning which Christ so clearly warned
(Matt. 24: 4, 5, 11, 24 and see II Thess. 2: 7-10), a divine gift of discrimination was
needed at this time to distinguish the true from the false; thus discerning of spirits was an
important gift and we have already seen the Apostle John's command to test the spirits in
view of false prophets (I John 4: 1-3). Thus those who claimed to give a word of
wisdom, or knowledge, or prophecy could be infallibly sorted out as to whether their
utterances were actuated by the Spirit of God or by some satanic and demonic power.
The last on Paul's list is tongues and their interpretation. We shall have more to say
about this gift when we read chapter 14: where the Apostle deals with tongue speaking
and its proper place in the assembly, so that everything could be done "decently and in
order".
The Apostle now stresses the source of all gifts--the Holy Spirit Himself who is
sovereign in his distribution of them:
"But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even
as He will" (12: 11 R.V.).
He alone chooses what gift each believer should have, so that none should have
ground either for boasting or for being inferior. Nor were they given just to the
"spiritual". All were necessary at this time for the great Kingdom testimony. This
naturally leads to the thought of the Pentecostal church as a whole and what the working
of every part could achieve for the Lord. What better illustration could be given than a
human body, with its various members working together harmoniously for the body and
the person as a whole? This the following verses elaborate.